#1352 · 🐦 birds

Australasian Swamphen

🇳🇱 Australische purperkoet ·Porphyrio melanotus

🐦 Birds 📍 outside Europe

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The Australasian swamphen ( Porphyrio melanotus ) is a species of swamphen occurring in eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is also found in New Zealand, where it is known as the pūkeko , a term derived from the Māori language. The Australasian swamphen used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 34,638iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
34,638 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 (206 years ago).